Polybus and Merope are the couple whom Oedipus assumes his parents to be in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).
Specifically, Oedipus is raised as the only child and heir apparent of Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope. He feels confident of their love for him and believes that they have his best interests at heart. That the couple's love is strong makes it all the more shocking when Oedipus hears a rumor that Polybus and Merope are not his biological parents.
Creon; the Delphic oracle
Polybus and Merope are Oedipus' foster parents in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Polybus and Merope are the couple who head the Corinthian royal house. They are childless and therefore overjoyed when presented with an infant abandoned outside the city of Thebes. They never speak of the true identity of their foster son Oedipus, whom they love as their own and raise as their heir apparent.
Creon is the person whom Oedipus assumes to be behind Teiresias' claims in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Teiresias the blind prophet says that Theban King Oedipus is King Laius' killer. Oedipus is angered, horrified and terrified at being charged with killing someone whom he never remembers meeting and for which the penalty is execution or exile. He therefore assumes that the claim is made up so that Creon, who stands the most to gain with Oedipus' overthrow, is behind Teiresias' charges.
A god and a nymph are the possible parents that the chorus suggests for Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus finds out that he is native to Thebes instead of to Corinth. He is in the process of finding out who are his biological parents instead of the Corinthian monarchs assumed to be his father and mother. In honor of Oedipus' reputation as the heroic savior and beloved ruler of Thebes, the chorus suggests that Oedipus well may be the son of Hermes the messenger or Dionysos the wine god.
Thebes is the hometown of Oedipus' parents in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Oedipus is a native son of Thebes, the hometown of his biological parents. But he does not know that. He thinks of Thebes as a fresh start and as protection from a horrendous prophecy concerning his presumed hometown of Corinth and his presumed parents, Corinthian monarchs Polybus and Merope.
"Rex" is Latin for "King". Oedipus Rex means "Oedipus the King".
Jocasta is the Queen of Thebes and the mother of Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Jocasta is Theban Queen because of her first marriage to King Laius. Jocasta and Laius also are related as cousins who descend from Thebes' founding King Cadmus, but by different grandchildren. They are the reluctant parents of their son Oedipus, whom they try to kill.
It is Merope that Oedipus believes to be his mother in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus does not remember anything about growing up other than the years spent in Corinth. But he hears a rumor that he is not the biological son of his presumed parents, the monarchs of Corinth. He is upset by that rumor, but seems to continue to believe that Corinthian Queen Merope is his mother.
Thebes is the setting of Oedipus Rex because it is the place where the story begins.
'King' is an English equivalent of 'Rex' in the play 'Oedipus Rex'.
Polybus and Merope are the names of Oedipus' presumed parents in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Polybus and Merope are the childless royal couple of Corinth. They have no one to succeed them until a Corinthian shepherd presents them with the infant Oedipus. Oedipus is raised to think of the Corinthian monarchs as his biological parents and therefore grows up with a very mistaken self-image.
It is Creon whom Oedipus sends for information about how to end the pestilence in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles (495 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.).Specifically, Theban King Oedipus faces the challenge of a pestilence that threatens the the harvests and the lives of Theban people and their livestock. He has no idea as to the cause or the solution. So he sends Creon, his brother-in-law and royal colleague, to find out what to do.